The Concept of Marriage
by HamPickleSandwich
Summary: There's a certain word that 9 doesn't understand. Neither do 5 or 7. Oneshot. Shane Acker owns this fic. Don't mind the little note at the start- this was on the fabulous 9 forum before I put it here.


Ok, this I came up with after spending time on the chatbox. Thanks to Spirits for letting me write this- otherwise it could have been *gulp*...plagarism. Ok, here we go. Oh, and the second definition was made up by me.

**mar****riage****  
mær ****ɪ****d****ʒ**** [mar-ij]****  
–noun  
**_**The social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.**_

It was an entirely normal day when 9 and 7 found themselves in the library, searching for pieces of information among the books. It had been perhaps a year since the B.R.A.I.N had been defeated- a year for 9 to return leadership to 1, and a year to become close with his new friends. 7 and 9 found themselves particularly in tune with one another, and so it was love and friendship which lead them to explore in the library. That was the day that 9 found the word.

"7?"  
"Hm?" 7 mumbled, looking up from her place a fair ways away.  
"What does... um, what IS this word?" 9 asked. He had picked up the first book he could find- flicking to the first page he wanted. The word intrigued him, and he stared at it as 7 brushed him aside, peering at it with squinted optics.

"Ma-marri-guh? Wait... marriage! That's the word." she said, satisfied with her pronounciation. 9 tilted his head.

"What...what does it mean?" he asked, leaning against the book. At this point, 5 appeared out of nowhere, making 7 and 9 jump.

"You should know, 9! You sleep in the same BED as 7!" he called out, climbing up from behind a dictionary. 7 rolled her optics. It was a well known fact that 7 invited 9 to sleep in her bed with her almost every night in the winter. When spring came around, 9 asked quite simply whether or not it was easier just to sleep in the same room full stop. 5 of course, never ceased to come up with wisecracks about the arrangement.

"Do you know what it means, 5?" 9 asked dryly. 5 shrugged.

"Use the dictionary." he suggested. Which of course, they did.

------

"Here we are..." 9 said, running his finger down the large page.

"The social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, et cetera." 7 read. She sounded as clueless as she looked. 9 and 5 exchanged a look- what was that supposed to mean, anyway?

"5? That didn't achieve anything." 9 pointed out, stating the obvious. 5 smacked a hand to his face.

"Really, 9? I didn't know!" he mumbled from behind his hand.

"It looks pretty nice." 7 muttered under her breath with a sigh.

"You know, 9," 5 started, realising something, " , You and 7 are already kinda like what the dictionary says. You live together, you're always near each other, you love each other... you..." he trailed off, laughing. 7 slapped him on the arm as hard as she could.

"Pervert." 7 spat. 5 cradled his now smarting arm.

"Anyway, we aren't like that. It says you need to be together by 'legal commitments', whatever that means. So 9 and I aren't married." she continued, crossing her arms and leaning against a shelf. 9 looked towards 7, squinting just slightly.

"Well, in that case..." 9 muttered , putting his light staff in his other hand, ", Will you marry me, 7?" he asked, despite the fact that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. 5 gaped, and 7 drew her breath sharply.

"You don't have to if you don't want to! I just... well, 5 is right. We're together nearly all the time, and I love you very much- even you know that. So why not make it official? Be my wife, whatever that is." he said, though he was a little shaky by this point. 7 laughed, approaching 9 for a hug.

"I suppose, when you put it that way... Yes. You can be my husband- whatever that is." she laughed as she drew him close to her.

**Marriage  
Noun  
Mar-rij-uh**

_**When a male and a female declare their undying love for one another, through the means of an official ceremony- even if they don't know how they're supposed to go about it.**_


End file.
